religions Article Eco-Theology and Environmental Leadership in Orthodox and Evangelical Perspectives in Russia and Ukraine Alexander Negrov 1,* and Alexander Malov 2 1 Center for Leadership Research, Hodos Institute, Mukilteo, WA 98275, USA 2 Theology and Leadership Research Unit, Hodos Institute, 08200 Irpin, Ukraine; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: Environmental leadership and eco-theology have not been a priority for Evangelical and Orthodox Christians in the countries of the former Soviet Union (particularly, Ukraine and Russia) due to various historical, political, social, and theological reasons. However, contemporary environmental global challenges suggest that both Orthodox and Evangelical Christians should revisit their perspectives and efforts related to responsible stewardship by humankind of the earth and its life forms. This article presents the analysis of multiple forms of data (relevant Orthodox and Evangelical documents, specialized literature, and individual interviews/focus groups). We conducted individual interviews and focus groups with 101 Evangelical and 50 Orthodox Christians from Russia and Ukraine. Although the majority of interviewees agreed that the ecological crisis exists and should be addressed, only some of them admitted that they actively care for creation. While Orthodox Christians are more active in practical care for creation, Evangelicals have a stronger grasp of the biblical teaching concerning nature and humans’ responsibility for it. We argue that Evangelical and Orthodox Churches in Ukraine and Russia can learn from each other and impact Citation: Negrov, Alexander, and their communities: engage minds, touch hearts, feed souls, and respond to environmental challenges Alexander Malov. 2021. as an expression of their faith and leadership. Eco-Theology and Environmental Leadership in Orthodox and Keywords: Orthodox; Evangelicals; ecology; creation care; leadership; Russia; Ukraine Evangelical Perspectives in Russia and Ukraine. Religions 12: 305. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12050305 1. Introduction Academic Editors: Bradley Nassif and Tim Grass Religion is connected with ecology. This is widely accepted by scholars of religious studies (Gottlieb 2006). Grim and Tucker(2014), the editors of the Harvard book series Received: 18 March 2021 “Religions of the World and Ecology”, argued that religions provide for people the basic Accepted: 25 April 2021 interpretive stories of who humans are and what their nature is, where humans have come Published: 27 April 2021 from, and where they are going. Religions suggest to humans how they should treat other humans and how they should relate to nature. Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral Eco-theology, creation care, and environmental leadership are noteworthy themes for with regard to jurisdictional claims in the world’s three major Christian traditions—Roman Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, published maps and institutional affil- and Protestantism (Blanchard 2014; Chryssavgis 2013; Hessel and Ruether 2007; Jenkins iations. 2008; Schaefer 2011). O’Brien(2010) stressed that the well-being of people and a balanced biodiversity on the earth is a point of intersection between Christian faith and ethics, social justice and environmentalism, science and politics, and global problems and local solutions. In recent decades, many leaders and theologians of various Christian traditions have Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. met to address the growing ecological challenges on the earth. While they might disagree Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. on various Christian dogmas, they concurred in saying that “the Christian community This article is an open access article has a special obligation to provide moral leadership and an example of caring service distributed under the terms and to people and to all God’s creation” (Oxford Declaration on Global Warming 2002). The conditions of the Creative Commons international participants of the Lausanne Global Consultation on Creation Care lately Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// agreed that ecology is “a gospel issue within the lordship of Christ”. The consultation’s creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ declaration—A Jamaica Call for Actions (Creation Care and the Gospel: Jamaica Call to 4.0/). Religions 2021, 12, 305. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12050305 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions Religions 2021, 12, 305 2 of 21 Action 2012)—stated, “Many of the world’s poorest people, ecosystems, and species of flora and fauna are being devastated by violence against the environment in multiple ways ... We can no longer afford complacency and endless debate. Love for God, our neighbors ... and the wider creation, as well as our passion for justice, compel us to ‘urgent and prophetic ecological responsibility’”. Orthodox Christianity and Protestantism are well represented in Russia and Ukraine. Many people in these countries identify themselves as Christians and view religion as an important part of their lives. Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox and Evangelical churches are somewhat concerned with ecological problems in the world. While church leaders note that an ecological theme is not the most important for the Church today, they will argue that this theme should not be neglected as unimportant. Thus, they periodically encourage their believers to safeguard the integrity of God’s creation by sustaining and renewing the life of the earth. Both Evangelical and Orthodox Christians in Russia and Ukraine periodically convene conversations around ecology and faith1. For example, the leaders of the Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox churches authorized an annual day of prayer for the environment (Epiphanius 2019; JMHS 2015). Their clergies are encouraged to preach on this day, the first of September, about Christian ecological stances and remind their parishioners that the natural environment is the spiritual responsibility of Orthodox believers (JMHS 2015). Although Russian and Ukrainian Evangelicals occasionally talk about protecting, restoring, and rightly sharing God’s Creation, they have not commenced in their churches a day of prayer for the environment, and do not urge preaching around faith and ecology. Despite a vast interest among scholars to investigate the religious perspectives and practices among the Orthodox and Evangelicals, to this point no attention has been given to compare their perspectives on the issues of eco-theology, creation care, and environmental leadership. Thus, this article is bridging a gap in scholarly literature and offers the impetus for further studies. The goal of this article is to present the results of analysis of research interviews with 101 Evangelicals (Baptist, Pentecostal, and Charismatic) and 50 Orthodox Christians from Russia and Ukraine. Open-ended questions were used to gather and compare theological and practical perspectives related to ecology and Christianity. We argue that Evangelical and Orthodox churches in Ukraine and Russia can learn from each other and impact their communities: engage minds, touch hearts, feed souls, and respond to environmental challenges as an expression of their faith. From a theoretical point of view this study relates to several theoretical paradigms. For example, it illuminates some of the assumptions of social constructionist theoretical ideas which postulate that environmental claims are produced by different forms of social construction. Environmental constructionist sociology argues that the existence and force of social constructs determine the acknowledgment of ecological problems and search for environmental solutions. A good discussion about social construction of environmental issues and problems is presented by Hannigan(2014). Our research shows that the eco– theology and environmental leadership of Christians in Russia and Ukraine is tied to what environmental sociologists call the “constructionist–realist” debate. This study contributes to theoretical debate within missiology and practical theology. It could be used, for example, as a case study that stimulates the advancement of an ecologically grounded Christian practical theology. For practical theologians (especially in Russia and Ukraine), it is important to advance a theological, eschatological, and ecological anthropology that is undeniably needed in the midst of the current global ecological crisis. Such an anthropology, in the words of Jennifer Ayres, “should necessitate a willingness to live in and for our unfinished world” (Ayres 2017, p. 60). 2. Background for This Study 2.1. Global and Local Assessments of Ecology It can be said that environmental concerns have both global and local contexts. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Religions 2021, 12, 305 3 of 21 recently completed a massive assessment of global ecology and found that nature and its vital contributions to people, which together embody biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, were deteriorating worldwide and declining more rapidly than ever (IPBES 2019). In 2020, the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment published a local environmental assessment relative to the Russian Federation. This report pointed to various problems related to biodiversity and ecosystems within the Russian Federation (Russian State Report 2020). The alarm about the unhealthy local ecology was also articulated by Ukrainian authorities (Ukrainian National Report 2018). The Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM)